Friday, June 10, 2011

As I mentioned in my May Favorites video, a fun polish I've been playing around with is the current nail trend: crackle polish! It seems like each new year there is a new gimmicky nail polish trend that can mayhaps be amazing and mayhaps be a little meh.

Honestly I was very hesitant about crackle polishes at first because they just didn't seem very pretty. It wasn't until I saw dear Yasumi of Worship at the House of Blues have her post on her China Glaze Crackle Glaze in White on White here that I decided YES! I want to try it out too!

Crackle on my ring finger. Too in love with the base polish to cover it all. I'm a timid crackler! Baby steps!

Close-up of good crackle action! (Although I hear the OPI crackles better? I'll have to test that.)

I got a bit more adventurous and crackled my thumbs also.
Look at me being all hip and with it 40%! *shakes cane*

I do have another hot pink China Glaze crackle polish and a black OPI one to try out, but for a first run I do have to say that the white crackle really grew on me. Part of the fun is simply watching that first 30 seconds when it splits apart, which I have to say is oddly satisfying. It's like the visual equivalent of eating a flakey Butterfinger bar, or really great baklava. Mmmm, baklava...

This will probably split opinions, I know, but what do you think of crackle polishes? Are you on the crackle train? Let me know what you think in the comments. I honestly think it's fun but I probably won't buy the whole collection. :)

Disclaimer: China Glaze polish was provided by Pretty & Cute. All other items were purchased myself. Actually, the Sally Hansen polish is Hannah's and I just borrowed it but we won't tell. There are some affiliate links included in this post. I was not paid in any way nor required to do a review on the samples. :)

I like the white crackle! I didn't really like it when it was only the black OPI crackle because I thought it was too dark ): but now that more colors are coming out, I think I want to try them out too! (:

I am also very weary about crackle polish >.< to be honest I think the premise is a bit silly - I thought till now everyone was avoiding cracked polish!! But it's a unique look, and unique = good right?

I love crackle nail polish! I dont do the black but I love the turquoise and pink color china glaze has. I also picked up the silver one from OPI for sephora since I couldn't find the regular OPI at ulta. I love the silver over a neon! I'm going to pick up the gold one too. The silver is very metallic and shimmery. It's not too opaque so the undercoat gives the shatter a tint of color.

While I love the SH color, I'm still not sure if I dig the crackle. I can remember when it was big in like 1998 and I played with it, but hated the texture. I may give it a try to see if I see things differently now than I did 13 years ago. Who knows, I may like how it looks and feels now!

I personally don't like the crackle polish. It reminds me of the time when my friend had painted her nails white, and a few days later had taken a needle to scratch through the nail polish making such similar designs like the crackle polish (she did this because she was bored). I love the pink polish you have on though.

I know you're busy and you probably don't get a chance to read and answer all reader's questions. However, last time I had asked how often you washed your makeup brushes and what you used to wash them, but you didn't give a response. Some people have told me once a month, weekly, and others say right when they're done using the brushes. Some have used baby shampoo with water to clean the makeup brushes. I'd appreciate your input. Thanks and take care!

I love using crackle nail polish, but it can be finicky! If you mess up because you didn't use enough paint then its over! I've only used black crackle, which I think looks nice, but I don't really like the white crackle that you used. Try black or a color on top of white?

K: I usually use shampoo to clean brushes for a deep clean every couple of weeks. When I'm not rushed, I like to clean brushes between uses with a Wet Ones wipe or MAC brush cleaner + paper towel. Baby shampoo is definitely the most economical option in my opinion!

Just FYI, for my kit brushes I deep clean the brushes between each session and if I am doing multiple clients in 1 sitting I use a Wet Ones wipe between each person so the brushes are disinfected. :)

I've tried this kind of nail polish and it looked great and different in a good way!:D Purple and yellow would be a cute combi for the crack :D

Can I ask a few questions? What if did not like the outcome of my hair color which I did last Sunday? Can I modify it myself and try to get the color I want? It just made my face darker, the color is coffee brown. I'm really upset and I don't know what to do. I hope you could help me with some tips. Thank you sooo much! Love your eyes, I also have chinky ones :D

I LOVE the look of it, but I've found with the OPI crackle that after a few uses it starts getting really thick. Of course, I am using it in a salon setting so the bottle is opened regularly, but they have never lasted more than a week without thickening. It doesn't really work to thin them with acetone either. :(